Quail

::extreme high pitched-only dogs can hear it-squeal::

how freaking adorable is this?!?!?!?!

out of 48 quail eggs, we only got one teeny tiny baby.

this is little squeaker.

he is THE fastest creature on earth, seriously.

when i stick my hand in the box to pick him up

he runs 20 laps in 1 second; banking off the

sides and sliding into the corners.

we are holding out a few more days in hopes

that he will have a sibling. either way we are

waiting for either fluffers or looseal to

hatch their babies and sneak him in to the bunch.

welp, achieved nothing this weekend....

the house does look more like a house of

semi-clean people in stead of grubby homeless

squatters. and i did go out with some friends

(my office manage and hub, they feel sorry for me lol)

and went on a wine tasting, followed by a pontoon ride

on the lake with her 'rents and chillins.

good times, wine and water; what more do you need?!

however, i am a bit too red for wine......

the whole time i was thinking:

"yall gotta miller lite back there?!"

here's a pic from atop the mountain from

the winery

good times.

someone say chicken?

guess who we caught today?!

Blanche!! aaahahahahahaha

is she not the cutest thing ever?!

all sparkly like a little rock star.

you just have no idea.

and this is Hawkypoo.

and this is the reason that every roo is going

to be pimping peepers.

this is Ken, he is a bard rock.

The first and fattest bard rock hen

that we have, we named Barbie...so

obviously this is ken, there are also 2

other hens that are step down in size

named Skipper and Midge. :)

the sexy roo in the back is a Welsomer (sp?)

anyway, i'll need to get some better pix of blanch.

it is FREAKING IMPOSSIBLE to take pix

of these brats. its like they know; the pose

and look all cute and when i click the pic they

run off or peck something or scratch their face.

like taking kids to a professional photographer

or getting their picture taken with santa....

mission impossible.

well, summer is coming to an end, and

everyones blog shows all the awesome

fun things they've done.....

hasn't really been fun this year.

being old and married really changes things.

not to mention we don't have friends anymore either.

so every weekend is here at the house....

every. day. i miss being spontaneous.

being responsible is a buzz kill.

hopefully i will get some mini time in this weekend.

Low Carb Chocolate cup cheese cakes!

Low Carb Chocolate Cup Cheese Cake

OK, all us Adkins peeps need chocolate too, and not just
the Russel Stover Sugar Free candies that give you
unbelievable gas. (make sure you're alone
when in indulging in those goodies, or at least
be with an Adkins friend ;)

SO, i took a regular recipe and converted it just for us!

You shall need:
8oz 1/3 fat cream cheese
1/2 cup Splenda
1 large egg (home grown of course :)
1/4 cup 60% cocoa semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups soy flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
6tbsp butter
1 cup warm water
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven 350
Mix cream cheese, 1/4 cup splenda & egg
in separate bowl, then add chocolate chips

Mix all the remaining ingredients and
full up the your muffin tin.
(my old pizzeria boss used to say "full up"
...in Honor or Marc!)
then top each one off with the cream
cheese mixture.

Bake for 30-35 min.

Yield 12 cupcakes at 5 carbs each.

I think these would be much better without
the chocolate chips....they make it too
bitter. i think next time i will just mix
strawberry jello mix (sugar free of course)
into the cream cheese in place of the chips
that way i can cut out 24 carbs from the batch
to make each one 3.5 carbs.

there's always more than one way
to skin a cat.

happy eating! :)

Bacon-ated Cheese Ball

 

Nothing says Adkins better than a
big 'ol cheese ball!

Supplies:
8oz 1/3 fat cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/3 cup feta cheese
1 cup shredded Monetary Jack/
    Colby cheese
1/2 pkg of Hormel Peppercorn
    Bacon bits
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup brutally beaten pecans

mix everything except pecans in
large bowl. try not to eat as you go :P
roll the mix into a ball then
roll in the pecans until evenly covered.

TADA! there are 22 carbs in the whole thing.
So i dunno how exactly you divide up
servings on a cheese ball, i mean its a ball
which is a 3d circle, and circles don't have a
beginning or an end....
you people are on your own on this one.

great to serve up with fried low carb tortillas.
you can even leave off the pecans and just make
it a dip; cutting out 8 carbs!

i need to eat something the minuet i get home
from work; this is a GREAT thing to have on hand
to satisfy those munchies and reasonably low
carb in small doses.

Happy Baconating!

Saddle up

more saddles for our ladies.

they are really having a rough time out there.

guess which one is for Blanche?! :P

The hub has discovered something else to

protect our gurls. Pinless Peepers.

its like solid glasses for the roosters. they clip on

the nostrils. it blocks the front vision so they can't

aim at the hen's heads and necks when they are

'doing their thing'. Blue bird is completely bald :(

so we will have roosters in glasses and hens in dresses.

have you hugged a chicken today?

i might have gone shoping

^ my new stash additions.

fabric.com is the devil....and so is a rainy day!

the obviously together collection is Amy Butler's

Love line. and the odd ball, but incredibly

adorable in a tacky way is Lovely morning Blue

(i dunno who it is) but it was cute and i needed

to add something to get free shipping ;)

i usually don't go with the tacky novelty prints

but i loved the super cute retro feel of this one

(it might have had something to do with the rooster)

and something that i just think is cool:

the Blythe dolls

i am just enchanted by them.

i forget now how i stumbled upon them,

but when i did i immediately hit ebay....

NO WAY! these cuties come with a 

super cute price tag. and if you have an

original you are a millionaire.

but i think i will indulge in getting a book on them.

they are just so, so, i dunno; hip?

like i need another something to collect anyway.

i know i should be doing something constructive

today, like working on hubs quilt, or

on dollhouse siding, or, i dunno,

cleaning the house so that i can actually

see the kitchen counters and get rid of that

super-rotten dead smell that has taken over

said kitchen.......

.......but, its not going anywhere...

if you don't hear from me in a week or so,

the dead smell was something alive

and came back to get its revenge!

Blue Scallops!

YAY!! can you believe that i just figured this crap

out on Sunday? and finished this on Wednesday?!

i don't mean to toot my own horn, but

TOOOT!! ;)

fabric of choice is Amy Butler's Belle line.

this pillow even has a pocket that hides the end

of your pillow! no more drool stains peeking out!

my goal was to have the peacock print on top and the dot

print on the bottom, but all i had was FQ's, so i made it work.

this was really fun and easy! well, once i got the

hang of it. find this tute at You Go Girl. she is

amazing. like i said i am a little behind.

and for all those non-crocheter's out there

i have a few words of wisdom :P

(for whatever that's worth)

my mind works differently than a normal person,

so it takes me a while to translate "normal people"

language into something simple-er that i can understand....

so there are SO MANY THINGS that i think should

have been said in all those tutes i read, to make it easier for beginners.
i would like to share these thought with those of you who are special too ;)

what i learned:
A: if you are a beginner, visit here: (lion yarn site)
this place is very helpful!! i don't think know! that i

couldn't have done this without them.
-thanks honey for finding this link for me :*

2: don't be thrown off by lack of a normal foundation

for your single crochet on the first round.

the blanket stitch IS your foundation; as you 

loop the yard around it you'll see how to make the single crochet.

(it took me all evening to figure that out until it finally clicked)

TRES: try to make your single crochets nice and even...

if not your scallaps will reflect it
(i was sure i was doing it wrong so i just had at it;

now i know what to do next time)

D: when doing your scallops make sure to

tighten the beginning and ending single crochet

so that you don't get those big holes where they

shouldn't be. i figured that out as i went along....

i still have a hard time coming off the dc into

the sc and keeping it nice and tight.

E: its ok to have a nice tight scallop - 

you won't be hooking anything thru it later.

6: if you keep things nice and in line like

YGG's pics things will turn out nicer.

G: MUY IMPORTANTE!! Tension is VERY VERY

VERY VERY VERY important.
(just to confirm, tension is very important)

that was my hardest challenge

OCHO: if you hold your "base" line (like when you first start

and hold your slip know in place) nice and firm you

can easy maneuver your "loops" to get the hook

thru and then tighten better once thru.

I: most people "yarn over" moving their hand with

 the yard over the hook; i keep my tension nice

and tight and yarn over using my hook to grab it

i just find it easier for me since i have a tight tension 

fetish and it saves time... you don't have to come all

the way up from your base when going thru a loop,

just have the hook peek thru and hook it and go.

i find it helps me work like a machine.

and that concludes this chapter in

Magoogle's "Crocheting for Dummies".
the most important thing is to find what

works best for you! it took me a while cuz nothing

felt right when i was doing it like everyone else....

the only thing that did was the way to hold my hook:

like a spoon. if you love eating, you'll pick it right up :)

worked for me! (p.s., diet not going as planned.)

i am sure i have butchered the crocheting language

here, and if i did a youtube tute, you wouldn't believe

all the words i make up and how my mind understands things.

Happy Crocheting everyone!!

i hope yall try this and please let me know if you do,

send me a pic or lemme know about your post!

Do you guys have any tips that

help you get along here? Leave a comment and

let us in the know :)

when is my parade?

 

I DID IT, I DID IT!!!

ok, i have been working on this ALL. DAY.

seriously. this crap is HARD yall.

it looks so easy, don't let the cute hooks and

pretty yarn fool you.

i was just so excited, and i obviously

can't hide it.

so i will be expecting a parade in my honor,

anytime is good with me.

maybe we could borrow some of the

Macey's Day balloons.

:)

Trying something new

is that a crochet hook in there?!

you bet your sweet bippy it is! :D

i found this awesome blog with an awesome

tutorial (from about 4 months ago).

i am a little behind the times.

i don't wanna spoil the surprise, so i'll

keep that blog under wraps till i'm done.

fear not! it won't be long.

as for the house..... it is ssssllllllooooowwww.

both speckle and i are a wee bit over our

heads here :) it is easy to get overwhelmed.

i really needed a break from the above project

before i screwed something up royaly, so

i detoured to this: (in progress)

wood paneling!

i would like to give a big shout out to

Woodsies Popsicle sticks; without you

i wouldn't have a house! i wish i could make

everything in life from just Popsicle sticks.

doesn't that look much better?

this will most likely take me the rest of my life

to finish the whole thing. the front porch is gonna be a killer.

welp, back to glue and fabric.

see yall in Michaels!

Crowded

so you know how i was "all jacked up on miniatures" and

i set myself loose on ebay? well this is what i found.

for a KILLER deal. and yes, i did think that it was all

WAY too much for my house, but to be quite honest, i 

didn't think i would actually win the auction.

it was such a good deal and i just new

every mini person ever had their eye on it.....

WRONG. but i do love it all so!!!

even came with 2 crates of vintage food containers.

so speckel and i were trying to figure it out at lunch

(i get stuff mailed to my work to make sure i get it)

and she is BRILLIANT!!!

there is going to be kit-bashing galore!!

just to give you an idea

this is my kitchen with everything:

ain't no one getting any cookin done in here!

this makes me kinda sick.

so i figure the island there to the right can stay

and i can move the sink into it, and cut the

cabinets off the stove, and make an over

under the stove for one of the existing ones and...

ok so you get the idea.

TONS of wrecking to be done.

oh and notice something missing?

the stairs! i have moved them into the

living/dining room. now i have to remake a floor for

the craft room and butcher the bedroom floor.

oh, i also need a fridge. 

so anyone know what era an "ice box" came from?

is it from the same as an electric stove?!

i'm off to google.

The Kitchen

quite obviously the before.

straight from my parents basement.

and now:

ta da!

this was all made possible by

Speckle, who gave me the perfect red fabric pattern.

thank you!!!! it is exactly what i was looking for.

i made the dish rack from Popsicle sticks and 

bamboo sticks from an old shade. i feel like i have

blogged about this before.... anyway, it has gone

through about 10 different coats of stain and paint

until i was happy.

now i'm all jacked up on miniatures again.

i am off to ebay.....

real auctions/electronic ones

all great places to be

see u in the crowd!